<strong>Arkansas</strong> Animal Science Department Report 2001 Table 2. Daily high and low temperatures for December 19, 2000 to January 24, 2001. Date High Low -°F- December 19 31 10 20 31 10 21 33 24 22 31 6 23 37 12 24 35 19 25 33 17 26 29 21 27 33 28` 28 35 21 29 36 18 30 31 16 31 28 12 January 1 27 16 2 32 7 3 27 10 4 50 24 5 55 35 6 61 27 7 53 34 8 49 33 9 43 24 10 49 19 11 42 32 12 42 33 13 43 36 14 54 40 15 53 29 16 50 29 17 43 31 18 39 33 19 39 31 20 39 19 21 44 17 22 55 23 23 52 29 24 51 33 Average 41.2 23.4 90
Evaluation <strong>of</strong> Cultivars <strong>of</strong> S<strong>of</strong>t Red Winter Wheat for Forage for Stocker Cattle Production L. B. Daniels, 1 K. F. Harrison, 2 D. S. Hubbell, III, 2 and Z. B. Johnson 1 Story in Brief Forty-eight Angus x Gelbvieh steers, averaging 524 lb body weight, were randomly assigned on November 9, 2000 to 2-acre replicated pastures containing forage <strong>of</strong> either Coker 9704, Coker 9663, Coker 9543, Agri Pro Shiloh, Patton, Roane, Pioneer 2580 or Delta King 9027 cultivars <strong>of</strong> s<strong>of</strong>t red winter wheat. The steers were allowed to continuously graze their respected wheat pasture from November 9, 2000 until March 20, 2001 except from December 23, 2000 until January 24, 2001 when the pastures were covered with ice and snow. During this period, the steers were fed bermudagrass hay and 2 lb corn per head per day. There were no differences in average daily gain (ADG), Total Gain (TG) or Gain/Acre (G/A) <strong>of</strong> steers due to cultivars from November 09, 2000 until December 23, 2000 or when they were fed hay (December 23, 2000 until January, 24, 2001). However, Patton, Pioneer 2580 and Delta King 9027 tended to produce higher ADG, TG and G/A from January 25, 2000 to March 20, 2001 and overall from November 9, 2000 to March 20, 2001 (P = 0.10 and 0.08, respectively), suggesting that these cultivars <strong>of</strong> s<strong>of</strong>t red winter wheat are more cold and ice tolerant than others. Introduction Over one million acres <strong>of</strong> s<strong>of</strong>t red winter wheat are planted each year in <strong>Arkansas</strong> for grain production. A large percentage <strong>of</strong> this wheat is planted on soil that is suitable for cattle production. The use <strong>of</strong> wheat forage for stocker cattle production in <strong>Arkansas</strong> is a unique and renewable economic resource (Daniels et al., unpublished data; Daniels et al., 2000b). Daniels et al. (2000a) reported that steers which grazed eight cultivars <strong>of</strong> s<strong>of</strong>t red winter wheat forage beginning on November 17, 1999 for 161 days made excellent gains (ADG = 3.23 to 3.76 lb) and suggested a trend for cultivar differences (P = 0.09). Horn et al. (1994) reported differences in ADG <strong>of</strong> steers that grazed various cultivars <strong>of</strong> hard red winter wheat. Similar cultivar differences <strong>of</strong> hard red winter wheat have been reported by Gribble and Krenzer (1994). It was the objective <strong>of</strong> this study to evaluate cultivars <strong>of</strong> s<strong>of</strong>t red winter wheat developed for grain production in <strong>Arkansas</strong> as forage for stocker cattle. Experimental Procedures Eight cultivars <strong>of</strong> s<strong>of</strong>t red winter wheat were seeded at a rate <strong>of</strong> 120 lb/acre on September 13 and 14, 2000 in prepared seedbeds. The wheat was seeded in 2-acre pastures, and each cultivar was replicated. Cultivars planted were the most common ones planted for grain production in <strong>Arkansas</strong>. They were Coker 9704, Coker 9663, Coker 9543, Agri Pro Shiloh, Patton, Roane, Pioneer 2580 and Delta King 9027. All pastures were fertilized according to soil analyses. Forty-eight Angus x Gelbvieh steers, averaging 524 lb body weight, were assigned randomly to pastures at a stocking density <strong>of</strong> 1.5 steers per acre (786 lb/beef/acre) on November 9, 2000, and they grazed until March 20, 2001. Steers were fed bermudagrass hay from December 23, 2000 until January 24, 2000 due to the pastures being covered with ice and snow. All steers were born and raised on the Livestock and Forestry Branch Station and were weaned and preconditioned 30 days prior to grazing. Steers were implanted with Ralgro ® and were fed 2 lb <strong>of</strong> corn containing 70 mg rumensin/lb for each animal per day. A commercial trace mineralized salt and vitamin mixture was fed free choice. Steers were weighed using a 12-hour shrunk weight, initially and at 28-day intervals. The data were analyzed using GLM procedures <strong>of</strong> SAS (SAS Inst., Inc. Cary, NC). Results and Discussion The average daily gain (ADG), total gain (TG) and gain per acre (G/A) <strong>of</strong> steers which grazed forage <strong>of</strong> the various cultivars from November 9 to March 20 are given by periods in Table 1. There were no difference in ADG, TG or G/A due to cultivars from November 9, 2000 until December 22, 2000 or from December 23, 2000 until January 24, 2001 when pasture were covered with ice and bermudagrass hay was fed. The present data differs from that reported by Horn et al. (1994) and Gribble and Krenzer (1994), who observed differ- 1 Department <strong>of</strong> Animal Science, Fayetteville 2 Livestock and Forestry Branch Research Station, Batesville 91
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